A grandmother who agreed to donate her entire body to medical research has finally been cremated - two years after her death.

After developing breast cancer in 1973 and having to undergo a mastectomy, Betty Lambert vowed to let scientists at Manchester University use her for academic studies so they could try to find a cure for cancer

She initially agreed to be used as a guinea pig for research into arthritis but after the retired newsagent discovered she had terminal lung cancer in 2010 she offered to donate her entire body following her death.

When she died the following November
aged 87 her only daughter, Diane Hibbert, 54, contacted the
anatomy department at Manchester University and they came to take her
away.

Scientists then used
her body and used her organs to help them research various illnesses
including cancer and helped with the eduction of up to 4,000 medical,
dental and science students.

It
was two years before the family were finally able to lay Mrs Lambert to rest
after her body was released by the university, who arranged her funeral,
last July.

Now Mrs Lambert's ashes are back at Mrs Hibbert's
home in Bolton, Greater Manchester, where she is preparing to fulfil
her mum's lifelong dream of scattering her ashes off the back of Mrs Hibbert's
Harley Davidson motorbike.

Mrs Hibbert said: 'Mum would have been chuffed to bits if she'd have been there to
see the funeral. The service was wonderful and that's really given me
closure. It was hard when she died and I couldn't bury her, but now
she's back with me in her urn my living room.

'I would love to fulfil my promise and
take her out on my Harley Davidson but when I got her back I couldn't
bring myself to take them out to scatter.

Betty, pictured with husband Jim, vowed to let her body be used for science after discovering there was no cure for cancer

'I will do it and I'll know when the time is right. Plus they are really heavy - in fact almost as heavy as when she was alive.'

Talking
of her reaction to her mother's bizarre request, Mrs Hibbert, who lives with
husband Graham, 59, said: 'I totally supported her with what she wanted
to do. I was in the police at the time and I went to lots of
post-mortems, so I wasn't freaked out about it.

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'She
was really into teaching and used to love watching operations on TV.
She had even watched a video about a mastectomy so she knew what had
happened to her.'

Mrs Lambert married her husband in
1946. He served in the RAF and the couple went on to run a newsagent's
shop which they had for 20 years.

They retired to Cleveleys in 1980 but Mr Lambert died in 1988 aged 70 and his wife returned to Bolton to live with her daughter.

Mrs Hibbert said: 'Mum had her left breast removed because of cancer in 1973 when
she was 50 and within two days she had a mastectomy. It's not like now
when you have treatment like chemotherapy, they just took away the
breast.

Mrs Lambert's wish was for her ashes to be scattered off the back of her daughter's Harley Davidson motorbike

Diane Hibbert waited two years for her mother's body to be released, after the selfless grandmother donated her organs for medical science

'She was surprised that there was no cure for cancer, so after her mastectomy she applied to donate her body to medical research so that she could help other sufferers in the future.'

Mrs Lambert agreed to have let scientists test her arms and fingers for arthritis but in July 2010 she taken ill with a bad back and tests showed the cancer had returned to her lungs.

Mrs Hibbert said: 'She died in my arms on
November 6. It was horrible but in glad it was me that was there with
her. She didn't suffer which is what matters. I can't ask for any more
than that and the university took her body away.

'They wouldn't tell us what sort of
research was carried out but eventually we got a letter from the
university saying that they were releasing my mum's body.

'They said that they had arranged a cremation service and I rang them up to confirm that we would be attending.

Pictured: Betty, left aged five and right, 21, fought breast and lung cancer, and was determined that doctors use her to help them research cancer

Mrs Hibbert, pictured left aged 35, was thanked for her 'selfless and public spirited donation' by the professor of anatomy at Manchester University

'They said that I could have as many
people there as I liked but with it being two years after her death only
three of us went, but it was still a lovely service.

Betty Lambert donated her body to medical science at Manchester University after she fought cancer twice

'We didn't want to wear black so we wore mum's favourite colour purple. We arrived at the crematorium at 10:30am expecting to be handed her ashes but the university had paid for a proper funeral with a hearse - complete with a purple wreath.

'Even the chaplain had a purple tie on. I know it was a coincidence but my mum gets her own way every time.'

'Looking back it was difficult but it was what she wanted. I have since asked my husband what he would do if I wanted to donate my body like mum did. He said he'd be happy with whatever I wanted so I'm considering it. After all they did such a good job with mum's funeral I know I'd be in good hands.'

At the time of Mrs Lambert's death, professor of anatomy at the university, Alan Crossman said: 'We send our condolences to Betty Lambert's family and are tremendously grateful to Mrs Lambert for her selfless and public spirited donation.

'Such donations, no doubt made after some difficult contemplation and with great courage, benefit the education of around 2,000 medical, dental and science students each year.

'The students' work is essential to their training and of great benefit to society and so we should all be thankful for people like Mrs Lambert.'